


Tumbling down

by silvermoongirl10



Series: Like father, like daughter (with godfather Sonny) [2]
Category: SEAL Team (TV)
Genre: An angry Sonny is a protective Sonny, Angry Sonny, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Gen, Godfather Sonny, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:14:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24647791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silvermoongirl10/pseuds/silvermoongirl10
Summary: Clay had kissed his wife and hugged his daughter goodbye and had also clapped Sonny on the back with a “see you soon brother”. The unsettling feeling Sonny suddenly had, he put down to actually seeing Clay spun up without him for the first time. He wouldn’t realise how wrong he was until two days later.
Relationships: Background Clay Spenser/Original Female Character, Sonny Quinn & Clay Spenser
Series: Like father, like daughter (with godfather Sonny) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1782046
Comments: 12
Kudos: 37





	Tumbling down

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been feeling out of sorts recently and had this idea bouncing around, so I’ve written this in one go. I’ll come back and edit it later as I’m sure that there are changes that need to be made. As this is a future-fic and I’m not sure how long the guys typically stay on teams for, so I’m just being generally hand wavy about everything technical in this story. But I hope you enjoy this anyway!
> 
> I am British so I'm sorry if any British terms have made their way into this.
> 
> I hope you are all keeping well during this time!

Sonny had spent the past four months coming to terms with retiring from Bravo team. He knew it had been coming, he had been getting slower (not that he would admit that to the kids) and old injuries were beginning to ache on rainy days. Most importantly to him, however, he had gotten to spend the last five years, still as Bravo Three, but getting to watch Clay grow into his role as Bravo One. The kid had grown a lot over the years, and Sonny was proud to have had a hand in shaping Clay into the operator and leader that he was today.

A big upside to retiring was that Sonny got to spend more time with his goddaughter, Josie, and he needed all the bonding time that he could get. Josie was seventeen and getting ready to start her last year of high school in September, and after that, heading off to university.

Every time Clay had been spun up in the past four months, Sonny made his way over to the Spencer household. Evelyn would welcome him in with open arms and always had the guest bedroom set up, knowing how Sonny liked to wait at the house until Clay walked back through the front door. Josie would sit him down and start telling him all about the latest book she had been reading. While Sonny didn’t have much of an interest in books himself, he couldn’t deny that seeing Josie’s eyes light up with excitement as she talked about her favourite bits or characters, was always good. He pretended he didn’t know that Josie was trying to distract him from the mission and missing his team.

Like her father, Josie soaked up knowledge like a sponge, but while Clay leaned more towards factual books, Josie loved fiction. Sonny had once made the mistake of taking Josie to a book shop on his own, it took an hour and a phone call to Clay to get Josie out of there. The day before Josie’s thirteenth birthday Clay had gotten Evelyn to take Josie out for the day, while Clay and Sonny hand built a wall length bookcase in Josie’s room. They left her books in their temporary boxes as they knew she had a certain way she liked to put them on her book cases and they knew they would inadvertently put them back wrong, even if they had taken a before picture. They had moved her old bookcases to the garage while they sorted out a new home for them and then waited in anticipation for Josie to get home. When they couldn’t stand waiting anymore, Clay text Evelyn to say they were finished. They waited in Josie’s room and got to see the look of amazement and happiness on her face when she saw the new bookcase. She had hugged them tightly thanking them, then got to work sorting her books. Clay had smirked hearing her excited shriek when she realised that the bookcase was deep enough for two books to be placed on the shelf, one in front of the other. Clay had left the room with a comment that now she had plenty of room to gather more books. Josie had taken that as permission to use her birthday money to go out and buy a handful of new books.

Sonny loved both Spencers dearly and while he enjoyed this chance to spend more time with Josie, he _hated_ not being there to watch Clay’s back. He was his little brother, and it was a hard pill to swallow realising he wouldn’t be there to keep the promise he made the day Josie was born, a promise to ensure Clay _always_ made it home to his family.

* * *

Sonny had already been at the Spencer house when Bravo was spun up, and had almost stood up with Clay to leave. Clay had kissed his wife and hugged his daughter goodbye and had also clapped Sonny on the back with a “see you soon brother”. The unsettling feeling Sonny suddenly had, he put down to actually seeing Clay spun up without him for the first time. He wouldn’t realise how wrong he was until two days later.

* * *

It was a calm Saturday afternoon, Josie was in her room reading her latest book, while Evelyn and Sonny were comparing stories of Clay being accident prone, despite being the total opposite while on missions. They were both laughing with tears streaming down their faces when the sudden sound of a phone ringing broke the laughter. Evelyn stood up to answer the phone, Sonny would never forget the sight of the laughter falling off her face and the colour of her face draining away. Sonny stood sharply and wrapped an arm around Evelyn’s shoulders, fearing the woman was about to faint. There was a roaring in his ears as Evelyn said something to the person on the phone. She ended the call and turned, so her face was pressed into the crook of Sonny’s neck.

“Clay’s been shot in the chest; they think the bullet nicked a lung. They’ve stabilised him, but have now put him on a transport home. They’ll call me when he’s been settled at the hospital.” Evelyn’s shoulders shook as she tried to take a deep breath. “Oh god Sonny…”

Sonny held her tighter and whispered in her ear, “Hey, listen to me. Clay’s stubborn. There’s no way that he is leaving you or Josie-jo. Do you hear me?”

Evelyn nodded, but did not loosen her grip. Sonny rested his chin on Evelyn’s head, while his eyes were drawn to a photo hanging on the wall. It showed Clay and Sonny laughing as they each held one of Josie’s arms as they lifted, the then eight-year-old, up in the air so her legs were stretched out in front of them. Sonny’s eyes narrowed and angrily thought to himself, _I don’t ask for a lot of things God, and I usually don’t talk to you. But you had better not take him yet. I swear to you, the kid had better make it._

Sonny was drawn from his thoughts when he heard a quiet voice say, “Mom? Uncle Sonny? What’s wrong?”

Evelyn pulled herself away and wiped her eyes. She looked sadly at her daughter, “Your dad has been hurt and is on his way back home.”

Josie’s eyes widened, and with a choked sob she turned and fled back into her room. Sonny hugged Evelyn, “I’ll give her a few minutes and then I’ll go and talk to her.”

Evelyn nodded and then slowly dropped down onto the sofa and picked up a hoodie Clay had left on the arm before he left. She put it on herself and snuggled down into the sofa, just staring blankly at the wall. Sonny tightened his hands into fists, and resisted the urge to hit something, while his heart broke for the two Spencer women.

He then walked towards Josie’s room and gently opened the door, he spotted Josie curled up on her bed, snuggling with the old teddy bear Clay had given to her on her first birthday. He walked over and sat beside her, before wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Josie flung herself into his arms as she tried to stifle her sobs. “Dad’s going to be okay, isn’t he uncle Sonny?”

Sonny hugged Josie tightly, “Something I’ve learned about your dad over the years Josie-Jo. Is that he _never_ gives up, he just keeps going. So, I have every faith that he will be okay.” He just hoped and prayed he wasn’t lying to Josie, they didn’t have a clear picture of Clay’s injuries and at the moment, it could go either way. 

* * *

A few hours later, Sonny was stood in Clay’s hospital room, standing behind the two chairs Evelyn and Josie were sat in. He rested a hand on either woman’s shoulder and stared down at the figure lying on the bed. The doctor had said Clay had been very lucky, they had been able to repair his lung and said in a few weeks he would be back on active duty. He listened to the reassuring beeps of the heart monitor and found himself unable to tear his eyes away from watching Clay breathe.

Movement in the corridor caught his attention and he squeezed the shoulders of the Spencer women and walked out into the corridor to be met with Bravo team. They were all huddled together wearing anxious expressions.

“How is he?” asked George, the man who had been Clay’s Bravo Two for the past five years.

“Going to be fine in a few weeks,” responded Sonny tersely. Most of the team winced at Sonny’s tone, knowing that Sonny was very close to their team leader and took every injury Clay got to heart.

“What’s your problem?” scoffed Bravo’s newest member, Harry joined the team two months before Sonny retired, so there was a transition period between a new member joining and Sonny leaving. While Sonny agreed the kid was a capable member of the team, he just never seemed to gel with the kid.

Sonny turned his glare onto Harry. “Seriously? My best friend. My _brother_. Is lying in a hospital bed, with a _chest wound_ , and you are _seriously_ asking me what’s my problem?” he snapped as he pushed Harry up against the wall. George tried to hold Sonny back, but the furious former SEAL was determined in his rage and shoved Harry hard as he added in a low furious tone, “you are supposed to have his back! And from what I have learnt from reading between the lines Evelyn was given. Is that Clay made a stand on his own and _none_ of you backed him up while George was holding the secondary position.”

At this Harry’s gaze flittered to the floor, Sonny stepped back and watched with a sick satisfaction as the other members of the team also found themselves unable to meet his eye. George looked torn between backing Sonny up and telling Sonny to leave. In the end, George remained silent, which was just as damning for the other men. As Sonny turned to go back into the hospital room he paused and threw one last comment over his shoulder, “the old Bravo team would have _never_ left Clay hanging.” The new Bravo team flinched away from his comment, and then Sonny stepped back into the room, closing the door firmly behind him. He sat on the spare sofa in the corner and his heart broke seeing Josie’s tearful eyes locked on her father’s face. Josie was usually all smiles and jokes, now she was silent and no smile graced her face.

Determined to help, Sonny took out his cell phone and send text messages to the men he knew could help.

* * *

Within an hour of texting them, Sonny was glad to see Jason, Ray, Trent and Brock entering Clay’s hospital room. The men all checked on Clay themselves and then they were able to convince Evelyn and Josie to go home for some food and rest. Reassuring them Clay would not be on his own. Jason and Sonny remained in the room and moved from the sofa to the two chairs beside the bed.

Sonny continuously squeezed his fingers and hands in agitation. Jason sighed and squeezed Sonny’s arm gently. “He’s going to be okay.”

“He’d better,” snapped Sonny, “making a stand on his own. What the hell was he _thinking_?”

Jason looked at Sonny with a sympathetic look, “he was thinking like Bravo One.”

Sonny turned to glare at Jason, “so he gets to take the hit while his team are doing god knows what while he gets shot?” his voice broke on the last word. He leaned over and rested his head in his hands. Without Evelyn and Josie being in the room, he had no one he needed to be strong for and felt himself begin to crack. While it had been almost twenty years since Clay had been injured by a bomb in the Philippines, Sonny felt the familiar feeling of his chest tightening at the thought of Clay getting injured.

“Sonny…you and I both know things like this happen on missions, and that its no one’s fault,” commented Jason.

Sonny sat up and glared at Jason, “they should have had his _back_.”

Shaking his head Jason replied, “you don’t know what happened out there Sonny. You weren’t there.”

Sonny’s chest tightened even more and as he turned away from Jason to look at Clay, his vision blurred slightly, because that was the problem. He hadn’t been there. He wasn’t there to watch Clay’s back. He hadn’t been there to read the situation and know how Clay would respond. He just hadn’t been there. And the result was Clay lying in the hospital bed in front of him.

Jason clapped Sonny on the back and left the room to give him a moment. Sonny sniffled and wiped a hand across his face. With his free hand he reached out and laid it on Clay’s arm, taking comfort from the warmth that showed his friend was still alive. “You’ve got to wake up soon Goldilocks, you hear me? I don’t like seeing you get hurt and to top it off, I’ve got to see your daughter upset. Do you know what this is doing to me? You two mean the world to me, and I _hate_ it when I can’t do anything about it. You’ve got to wake up Clay. I won’t accept anything else.”

Sonny remained sat in the chair for the rest of the night. Jason, Ray, Trent and Brock all came and sat with him for a while before they were replaced by the next man. They all offered to stay longer so Sonny could get some sleep, but he refused and remained sat in his chair, wake and watching over Clay.

It was the early hour of five in morning when the tight grip around Sonny’s heart eased when he saw Clay’s eyes flicker open. He saw Clay look around at his surroundings in confusion and in the half-awake state he was in, begin to panic. Sonny leaned forward so that he was clearly in Clay’s eyeline.

“Hey, it’s okay Bam Bam. You’re stateside and in the hospital. Everyone is okay, including yourself. Just take it easy.” Soothed Sonny, as he squeezed Clay’s hand.

Clay frowned up at him while Sonny’s words slowly sunk in. “Sonny?”

“Yep, your Prince Charming is hear for you sleeping beauty,” smirked Sonny.

Clay rolled his eyes, “two nicknames and giving yourself a nickname. You must have been worried,” rasped Clay.

Sonny playfully pinched Clay’s arm. “Watch it Bam Bam,” while said jokingly, Clay and Sonny both acknowledged Sonny had been worried. Clay lifted a hand up and Sonny clasped it with his own hand, something they had done all the way back to Clay’s first year on Bravo. “Its good to see you awake brother.”

Smiling Clay responded, “it’s good to see you to brother.”

* * *

Later in the day, Sonny walked back from a venture to the vending machine into Clay’s room and smiled seeing Josie lying on the hospital bed beside her dad. She was reading aloud from a weird and wonderful fact book that she had spotted in the hospital gift shop and bought for her dad. Sonny paused in the door way to listen to Josie reading some facts out.

“The longest time between two twins being born is 87 days.” Clay and Sonny grimaced, Josie then started laughing, “in 1567, the man said to have the longest beard in the world died after he tripped over his beard running away from a fire.” Josie paused reading the facts out while she tried to regain her breath, but then lost it again when she and Clay looked at each other and then began laughing again. Sonny smiled seeing the laughing pair, after the events of yesterday it was good to see both of them smiling and laughing.

Josie took a deep breath and then read out the next fact on the page. “During World War II, the crew of the British submarine HMS Trident kept a fully grown reindeer called Pollyanna aboard their vessel for six weeks, apparently it was a gift from the Russians.”

“Wait. A reindeer. On a submarine?” exclaimed Sonny.

Josie just laughed and nodded, while Clay pointed at the book, “this is a great book. Great find Josie.”

Sonny took a seat beside the bed and handed out the snacks he got for the three of them. He smiled to himself seeing Clay awake and talking with Josie and joined in laughing at the facts Josie continued to read out from the book.

* * *

A week later Clay was finally home and recovering, Sonny was yet to make his way home and he sheepishly told Evelyn that he would head home. “You will not,” responded Evelyn with her arms crossed. “I know you are still worried about Clay, so you are going to stay as long as it takes for you feel okay with going home. Don’t feel like you need to leave, stay as long as you want.” Smiled Evelyn, Sonny had thanked her and then wandered out into the garden to see Clay and Josie lying on their backs gazing up at the passing clouds.

Sonny walked over and looked down at the two Spencers. “What are you doing?”

“Cloud watching,” responded Clay.

“We’re looking at what shapes they make,” added Josie with a smile.

“Well your mom asked me to tell you that she needs you to set the table as dinner is almost done,” said Sonny as he gently kicked Josie’s foot.

She rolled her eyes as she stood up, “I thought that’s what we had you for uncle Sonny.” She ran back to the house laughing as she dodged Sonny’s attempt to catch her as he let out an outburst of mock rage at the comment.

Clay sniggered to himself as he slowly sat up, he seemed to be debating with himself on how he should attempt to stand up. When Sonny bent down and wordlessly offered his hands to help steady Clay. “Thanks,” responded Clay once he was stood upright.

Sonny shook his head, turning down the thanks. Instead he brought Clay in for a hug, and not for the first time, thanked god that his best friend was alive and well. “Don’t ever scare me like that again Bam Bam. My heart can’t take anymore scares like that. Especially as I’m not there to watch your back anymore.”

“You got it brother,” replied Clay with a smile. He then halted Sonny when the older man went to go inside. “But while you might not be on missions with me physically. However, I know you’ve always got my back.”

Slightly choked up, Sonny nodded and brought Clay in for another tight hug, “always will brother.”

The moment was broken by a cheerful voice calling from the house, “sorry to interrupt the bromance hug, but mom says dinner is ready!” Josie laughed at the mock glares sent her way by her dad and godfather, she turned back into the house, her long dirty blonde hair swishing from side to side behind her.

Sonny laughed and gestured to the house with his head, “we’d better not let Mrs Bam Bam and Bam Bam junior waiting.”

Clay laughed as he walked up to the house beside Sonny, “I dare you to call them that to their faces.”

“I know how to pick my battles brother. And that is not one I want to fight,” replied Sonny with a grin. The two of them laughed as they walked through the back door. Suddenly, everything was back as it should be, now Sonny could breathe easy again.

**Author's Note:**

> The facts from Josie’s book I found on the internet on a Buzzfeed page called ‘42 incredibly weird facts you’ll want to tell all your friends’ if anyone is interested.


End file.
